This invention relates to data processing system, and, more particularly, to a system and method of scanning and storing transaction documents bearing the signature of at least one party to the transaction. In one preferred embodiment the system and method is used to scan financial transaction/authorization documents, including retail sales receipts bearing retail sales purchaser signatures, and transmitting and storing information obtained off of the documents electronically at a remote database site.
Over the last 20 years, credit cards have gained widespread acceptance as a means of paying for goods and services. If the customer is not paying cash for a transaction but instead is charging the transaction cost to a credit card or bank account, a retailer typically may require the customer to sign a charge slip as evidence that the customer is who he says he is and actually purchased or received the goods or services. Retailers commonly save and file these signed paper receipts, and, as will be more fully explained below, forward them upon request to a credit card company or other financial institution as evidence of the transaction.
In order for a credit card transaction to be processed, a merchant must collect a variety of data associated with the transaction. This data typically includes the purchase price and date of the transaction, the account number and expiration date of the credit card, and the cardholder""s name and signature. Once this data is collected, the merchant transmits the transaction data, along with its merchant identification code, to a credit card transaction processor. The credit card processor sorts the data according to the company that issued the credit card, and forwards the data to the appropriate company. At that point, the credit card issuer posts the transaction to the cardholder""s account and the purchase amount is credited to the merchant. The credit card processor facilitates the flow of information and funds between merchants and credit card issuers.
Formerly, credit card transaction data was recorded, transferred, and stored in the form of paper receipts. Over the years, the credit card industry has developed various types of equipment that provides for the electronic acquisition, transmission, and storage of transaction data. In addition to reducing the industry""s reliance on paper records, this equipment expedites the processing of credit card transactions and minimizes errors associated with the entry of transaction data. The equipment includes point-of-sale (POS) equipment used by merchants and computer systems used by credit card processors.
Most merchants employ a cash register system of some type in order to record data associated with transactions, regardless of whether payment is made with cash, check, or credit card. In addition to a cash register, merchants that accept credit cards use other POS equipment to collect data associated with the credit card. This equipment usually includes electronic terminals that read the account number and expiration date from a magnetic stripe on the credit card and transmit the transaction data to the credit card processor. Such equipment may be separate from, or integrated into, the cash register equipment.
In a typical credit card transaction, a cardholder presents a credit card to a merchant, who records transaction data using an electronic terminal. The recorded data includes the amount of the purchase, the cardholder""s account number, the card""s expiration date, the merchant identification number, and the date of the transaction. In most cases, the cardholder is also required to sign a copy of the receipt.
Once the terminal accumulates the transaction data, the terminal automatically dials the merchant""s credit card processor or other authorization source and initiates an authorization request. When the transaction is authorized, the terminal displays and/or stores the approval code or authorization indicia received from the credit card processor. The approval code is recorded along with the other transaction data. The POS equipment typically includes a printer that is capable of printing a sales receipt. The sales receipt includes the transaction data and approval code, and provides a space for the cardholder""s signature.
These prior art devices allow numeric data, such as purchase price, date, account number, and merchant identification number to be easily accumulated, stored, and transmitted between the merchant and credit card processor. Consequently, numeric transaction data may be transferred and stored without the use of paper receipts. Although this numeric data is sufficient to process the transaction, it may be insufficient to validate or authenticate a transaction that is disputed by the cardholder. In the event a cardholder questions or denies the legitimacy of a transaction that appears on his or her credit card statement, it may be necessary for the merchant to produce a copy of the signed receipt as evidence that the cardholder was a party to the transaction. Therefore, it is necessary that a copy of each signed receipt be retained by the merchant for some period of time.
However, the handling of signed paper receipts as evidence of a transaction has also become a significant problem. For some time now retailers and the acquiring banks have been concerned with the cost in time and effort associated with dealing with the xe2x80x9crequest for copyxe2x80x9d process. The process starts when a customer, not recognizing an item on his monthly credit card statement, calls his issuer to query the charge. The credit card company rules define the further procedures as follows:
(a) the customer account is credited temporarily pending investigation;
(b) the acquiring bank (or merchant bank) is debited pending investigation;
(c) the retailer is asked by the acquiring bank to produce a copy of the sales slip with the customer""s signature on it (about 30% of these slips are not produced by the retailer);
(d) if the retailer cannot produce a sales slip with a valid or legible signature he loses the revenue from the transaction. If the signature is fraudulent, either the card issuer or the retailer stands the loss;
(e) if the retailer produces a valid transaction record, the charge is reinstated in the customer""s account and the acquiring bank is once more credited with the transaction value.
About 0.4% of all credit card transactions are challenged in this manner. With the paper-based xe2x80x9csignature on filexe2x80x9d process, each investigation can drag on for about four weeks before a resolution is reached. The acquiring bank is out of pocket during this period to the extent of the value of the transaction and expends valuable time attempting to resolve the dispute. Recent rules have been introduced by Visa and MasterCard which cause the issuers to provide a strong financial incentive to the acquirers to respond quickly to retrieval requests.
The retailer, in order to service the request for copy efficiently, often installs expensive microfilm systems and is asked to keep copies for up to three years. To service each request someone must physically search out the copy and regenerate an image of the transaction. If the retailer does not install such equipment it is estimated that on an average of up to 30% of the copies cannot be found and the retailer loses the sale revenue under these circumstances. In order to prepare for requests for copy and to reconcile the credit card transactions with the register audit tape, all systems generate an extra copy of the transaction details which are reconciled and batched for processing each day. All this effort is quite costly to the retailer.
This process of retaining and retrieving signed receipts is simplified if the merchant employs POS equipment that allows the cardholder""s signature to be digitized, transmitted, and stored along with the numeric data associated with the transaction. In such cases, the signature is digitized as the cardholder signs the credit card receipt. The digitized signature data and numeric transaction data are combined and transmitted to the credit card processor, where the data is stored for a predetermined period of time. If a cardholder disputes the validity of a transaction, the entirety of the transaction data, including a facsimile of the signature, may be provided by the credit card processor, and may serve as evidence of the legitimacy of the transaction.
Such types of POS equipment include electronic signature capture systems, which are in use today by large retail merchants. Typically, when using such devices, a receipt or application form is placed on the signature terminal so that the signature line is presented to the customer. A special attached pen is provided which allows the signature to be captured electronically at the same time it is written in ink. Thereafter the original signed receipt is given to the customer who leaves with the only piece of paper in the system. Everything else has been captured electronically in a simple efficient format that can be electronically stored with the associated electronic document data. This allows for later communication to a corporate host computer or acquiring bank and easy reproduction on a laser printer.
Some of these signature terminals include the capability to verify the submitted signature at the point of service. However, currently the driving force behind the largest application of signature capture devices is the retailers"" desire to eliminate the mountains of paper which they currently store to satisfy queried credit card transactions and to minimize the probability of xe2x80x9closingxe2x80x9d the receipts (and hence the transaction revenues) from these queried transactions. Large retailers installing signature capture terminals have typically generated paybacks of less than one year from the savings associated with this type of investment. On the other hand, for smaller retail establishments, the initial expense associated with implementing signature capture systems has made their widespread implementation cost prohibitive.
In addition, many merchants have invested significant amounts of money in POS equipment, such as sophisticated electronic cash registers, that allows the merchant to collect all of the numeric data associated with credit card transactions. In the case of larger merchants, the POS equipment may be connected to a merchant""s accounting computer system or xe2x80x9cin-store processorxe2x80x9d via a data communications network in order to facilitate the merchant""s business operations. Although it may be advantageous to capture signatures in such cases, it is not cost effective or convenient to do so if it is necessary to add additional printers or terminals that duplicate the merchant""s existing capabilities.
Furthermore, a merchant""s existing POS equipment may be connected to peripheral devices, such as check readers for automatically reading checking account data and PIN pads, which are used to input a debit card user""s personal identification. number (PIN). The existing POS equipment may not provide sufficient communications ports to allow the merchant to connect additional peripheral devices.
Finally, as indicated earlier, some retailers attempt to xe2x80x9cauthenticatexe2x80x9d the customer""s signature at time of transaction by visually comparing it with a presumed authentic signature on the back of the credit card and/or on a photo ID such as a driver""s license. Thus, the store clerk makes a quick visual comparison between (a) a presumed-to-be-authentic signature presented by the customer, and (b) the signature the customer created on a paper charge slip in the presence of the store clerk.
This xe2x80x9cauthenticationxe2x80x9d technique may sometimes be successful in detecting amateur thieves, but has severe limitations that make it totally ineffective against any serious and/or intelligent thief. For example, a thief can easily avoid detection by simply practicing the signature to be forged beforehandxe2x80x94since store clerks"" typically are not skilled in the art of handwriting comparison. Skillful thieves can distract the store clerk with small talk or complimentsxe2x80x94thereby effectively destroying the effectiveness of any visual handwriting comparisons. Moreover, many store clerks (especially those faced with a long line of anxiously waiting customers) may not be willing to take the time to make a careful visual signature comparison. Still further, a thief can destroy the reliability of the entire visual inspection handwriting authentication process by presenting his own handwritten signature of an alias name as the presumed-to-be-valid signature for comparison purposes. People sometimes do not sign the backs of their credit cards as they are supposed to, and a thief can easily write the credit card owner""s name in the thief""s own handwriting on the back of an unsigned cardxe2x80x94which the thief can of course easily reproduce on demand on a paper charge slip. Professional thieves sometimes also forge photo IDsxe2x80x94completely bypassing efforts to detect fraudulent transactions based on visual handwriting comparison. In addition, store clerks very seldom study the hand-written signature on the back of the card and there is thus little chance of detecting the use of a lost or stolen card.
Thus, a number of sophisticated systems have been developed, which are all aimed at verifying the identity of an individual at a point of sale location. One such system is described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,389, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference. In short, the ""389 Patent provides a system and method of positively identifying individuals, which includes at least one remote database site having stored therein digital photographic images of persons to be identified. Upon a request placed from a point of identification terminal, account information is accepted and transmitted to the remote database site, where the account information is correlated to one or more digital photographic images of persons authorized to use the account. The digital photographic images are then transmitted to the point of identification terminal where they are displayed on a display device. The clerk then compares the displayed digital photographic image(s) with the physical appearance of the person presenting the non-cash financial instrument and indicates that a match exists by entering a validation input into the point of identification terminal. The validation input includes information that identifies the clerk processing the transaction. The transaction information along with the identifying information for the customer and the clerk are then stored in transaction records at the remote database site.
Accordingly, it would be especially advantageous to provide a system and method of capturing and storing digital representations of retail store receipts, which include signatures of purchasers, that is compatible with all existing types of POS hardware. It would also be especially advantageous if such a system were compatible with a positive identification system, such as the one disclosed in the above-mentioned ""389 Patent, such that a single device may be put to multiple uses.
A data processing system and method is provided, which in one application is especially configured to capture, store and retrieve transaction document""s, including retail store receipts and electronic funds transfer (EFT) authorizations, which include a digital representation of a signature of a person initiating the transaction. In one embodiment, the system is used in conjunction with a point of sale system, which is used to process non-cash financial transactions, such as credit card purchases, check-initiated EFTs and the like. The data processing system includes a scanner located at a point of use location, such as a point of sale. The scanner is configured to scan a transaction document, which at least includes a signature of the person initiating the transaction.
The system also includes a transaction data processor for processing the scanned transaction document and for generating a transaction data record. Also included in the system is a remote database site having stored therein a database of transaction data records.
A communications link links the remote database site including the transaction data record database to the transaction data processor, which is located at the point of use.
Also provided is a method of processing transaction data, which is especially tailored to facilitate the capture, storage and retrieval of financial transaction data, including a digital representation of a signature of a person initiating a financial transaction. The method begins by scanning a document related to a transaction, said document including at least a signature of a person initiating a transaction, such as a non-cash financial transaction. The scanned transaction data is then processed and a transaction data record is generated by a transaction data processor. Next, the transaction data processor is linked to a remote database site including a transaction data record database over a communications link.
The transaction data record(s) generated by the transaction data processor are then transmitted to the remote database site, where they are stored in the transaction data record database.